In the spring of 2004, Gov. Bill Owens angered many of his right- wing backers by endorsing Pete Coors for U.S. Senate after having pledged to back to conservative Republican Bob Schaffer.

Their relationship chilled since last year’s endorsement, Schaffer and Owens on Wednesday agreed on at least one thing – to back U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez for governor in 2006.

“He knows what it’s like to put in a hard day’s work, build a business and meet a payroll. He will be an outstanding governor for Colorado,” Owens said of Beauprez, who represents Colorado’s 7th Congressional District.

“He is a visionary statesman whose performance on the crucial issues of education, agriculture and economic growth reflect the exact experience we need in our next governor,” added Schaffer, who lost last year’s GOP Senate nomination to Coors, who, in turn, lost November’s general election to Democrat Ken Salazar.

The Larimer County coroner on Sunday performed an autopsy on the body found on a farm just east of Loveland Saturday, but the office will not release the cause of death or the identity of the person until they can track down next of kin.